Japanese Parliamentarian Ms. Kuniko Tanioka is one of the few Japanese politicians willing to speak out publicly and critically on the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns and her government’s response to it. She is joined by Robert Alvarez, IPS senior scholar, in a briefing on Fukushima to occur May 10.

Robots were a major force in the automation drive that made Japan the most competitive nation in manufacturing in the 1980s. That glory seems to have faded in recent decades, and Japanese robotics are no exception.